A Lean Six Sigma, Industry 4.0 and Circular Economy-driven methodology for wine supply chain process improvement

From Firenze University Press Journal: Wine Economics and Policy

Alessandro Zironi, Polytechnic Department of Engineering and Architecture, University of Udine

Pamela Danese, Department of Management and Engineering, University of Padova, Vicenza

Pietro Romano, Polytechnic Department of Engineering and Architecture, University of Udine

Roberto Zironi, Dipartimento di Scienze Agroalimentari Ambientali e Animali, University of Udine

In recent years, wine supply chains have faced new and demanding chal-lenges. The traditional problems of controlling variability in winemaking pro-cesses to guarantee the homogeneity of wine quality, alongside cost savings and waste elimination to pursue efficiency, have recently been complemented by the digitization and automation of production processes and the design of new products and processes with a low environmental impact. In this context, wineries must be prepared to analyze and modify their supply chains to make them more efficient and sustainable by increasing their capacity for innovation and improving performance using available resources.The digital and sustainable transitions represent the perfect playground in which wineries can prove their ability to change their processes at an accelerated pace to face growing competition challenges, new customer expectations, and regulatory compliance. The journey toward such transitions depends not only on technology availability but also on the company’s ability to identify the right actions to implement. There is a broad consen-sus in the scientific literature that Lean Six Sigma (LSS), Industry 4.0 (I4.0), and Circular Economy (CE) can offer companies several opportunities to reduce vari-ability, increase efficiency, improve process control, and decrease the environmental impact.The concept behind the LSS model is quite recent and was first mentioned in the book “Lean Six Sigma: Combining Six Sigma with Lean Speed” [6]. By com-bining the principles and tools of Lean and Six Sigma into a single solution, the authors demonstrate how companies can achieve better results than implement-ing the two approaches separately. LSS focuses on what the consumer really expects from the product or ser-vice they purchase (i.e., the value for the customer) and relies on data collection and analysis to identify oppor-tunities to reduce waste and increase the quality of the product or service offered. LSS requires the adoption of specific tools, inspired by Lean Management and Statistical Process Control, within a formalized problem-solving approach following the Define, Measure, Analyze, Improve, and Control (DMAIC) cycle, which is an evolution of Edward Deming’s Plan-Do-Check-Act cycle for continuous process improvement.I4.0 has developed more recently to promote the use of digital technologies to optimize production processes and lays its foundation on information and communication technology. The main tools of I4.0 are based on advanced technologies such as the Internet of Things (IoT), artificial intelligence (AI), robotics, cloud computing, sen-sors, and smart devices. I4.0 technologies enable the connection and monitoring of machinery, production, and information flows with the goal of providing strategic guidance to managers so as to create production systems (and supply chains) that are not only more efficient, reac-tive, and reliable, but also more sustainable.CE refers to an economic production and consump-tion model pursuing the reduction of environmental impact that proposes practical solutions to waste and pollution problems caused by the linear economic model. With a focus on sustainability, modern wineries are committed to implementing strategies that enable them to achieve cost savings to gain a competitive advan-tage over time through proper management of internal resources. Specifically, through new approaches to design, production, and delivery of products and services, CE can support companies in extending the value of the resources they use over time. According to literature, the main methods to achieve this goal are reuse, remanufacturing, and recycling.Generally, the LSS, I4.0, and CE domains are addressed separately or in pairs. Focusing on wine supply chains, the lack of studies integrating these three views of process improvement is even more evident. I4.0 represents a significant stream of studies, often relat-ed to the Agriculture 4.0 framework, which is an evolu-tion of precision agriculture, or Viticulture 4.0 and Oenology regarding the winemaking phase in wine sup-ply chains. A recent study explored the potential of applying an I4.0-based decision support tools (DSS) to simulate different scenarios in the wine industry and aid decision makers in choosing the most appropriate strategy to achieve business objectives, but without integrating it with LSS or CE tools.CE is a rich and promising field of research in the wine supply chain context, but studies exploring the connections with LSS and I4.0 are lacking. As for the literature specifically related to LSS concepts in wine supply chains, it is very limited, mainly focused on the winery and bottling areas, and not related to CE and I4.0 issues.This research aims to demonstrate how wine supply chain processes (SCPs) can be improved by deploying the synergies between LSS, I4.0, and CE to face the quality, efficiency, and sustainability challenges of modern compe-tition. To this end, this study proposes an original meth-odology that enables the systematic improvement of SCPs throughout the different phases of wine supply chains, integrating LSS, I4.0, and CE. The methodology has been tested in a real case to evaluate its relevance and utility.The paper is structured as follows: The next section describes the conceptual and implementation frame-works of the proposed methodology. It is followed by the application to a real winery. In the following section, we discuss and evaluate the Decision Support System (DSS) and derive some conclusions. The final sections report the theoretical and practical implications and the conclusions and future developments.

DOI: https://doi.org/10.36253/wep-15803

Read Full Text: https://oaj.fupress.net/index.php/wep/article/view/15803